What can adults do to prevent and address cyber bullying?

Adults seldom are present in the online environments frequented by children and youth. Therefore, it is extremely important that adults pay close attention to the cyber bullying and the activities of children and youth when using these new technologies.

Suggestions for Parents

• Keep your home computer(s) in easily viewable places , such as a family room or kitchen.
• Talk regularly with your child about on-line activities he or she is involved in.
  • Talk specifically about cyber bullying and encourage your child to tell you immediately if he or she is the victim of cyber bullying, cyberstalking, or other illegal or troublesome on-line behavior.
  • Encourage your child to tell you if he or she is aware of others who may be the victims of such behavior.
  • Explain that cyber bullying is harmful and unacceptable behavior. Outline your expectations for responsible online behavior and make it clear that there will be consequences for inappropriate behavior.
• Although adults must respect the privacy of children and youth, concerns for your child’s safety may sometimes override these privacy concerns. Tell your child that you may review his or her on-line communications if you think there is reason for concern.
• Consider installing parental control filtering software and/or tracking programs, but don’t rely solely on these tools.

Suggestions for Educators

• Educate your students, teachers, and other staff members about cyber bullying, its dangers, and what to do if someone is cyberbullied.
• Be sure that your school’s anti-bullying rules and policies address cyber bullying.
• Closely monitor students’ use of computers at school.
• Use filtering and tracking software on all computers, but don’t rely solely on this software to screen out cyber bullying and other problematic on-line behavior.
• Investigate reports of cyber bullying immediately. If cyber bullying occurs through the school district’s Internet system, you are obligated to take action. If the cyber bullying occurs off-campus, consider what actions you might take to help address the bullying:
  • Notify parents of victims and parents of cyberbullies of known or suspected cyber bullying.
  • Notify the police if the known or suspected cyber bullying involves a threat.
  • Closely monitor the behavior of the affected students at school for possible bullying.
  • Talk with all students about the harms caused by cyber bullying. Remember — cyber bullying that occurs off-campus can travel like wildfire among your students and can affect how they behave and relate to each other at school.
  • Investigate to see if the victim(s) of cyber bullying could use some support from a school counselor or school-based mental health professional.
• Contact the police immediately if known or suspected cyber bullying involves acts such as:
  • Threats of violence
  • Extortion
  • Obscene or harassing phone calls or text messages
  • Harassment, stalking, or hate crimes
  • Child pornography

Source: http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/